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Michigan State defensive back Darqueze Dennard. / Associated Press

The Detroit Lions took the fastest cornerback in the draft last year, Darius Slay, when durability concerns pushed him to the early part of the second round.

If they want the fastest defensive back in the draft this year, they'll have to use the No. 10 pick to get him.

Oklahoma State cornerback Justin Gilbert ran a 4.37-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine today, about the same time Slay (4.36 seconds) posted last year.

Gilbert confirmed that he's the most athletic of a big group crop of cornerbacks, while Michigan State's Darqueze Dennard answered some questions about his speed.

Dennard ran an official 4.51 in the 40. While not lower than the 4.5-second bar Lions general manager Martin Mayhew said last year he likes his cornerbacks to hit, Dennard's time was better than some expected.

He ran an unofficial 4.42 on his first attempt, according to the NFL Network. Teams use their own 40 times and other measurements when evaluating a player.

“I was ready to just prove people wrong, pretty much,” Dennard said on the NFL Network after his workout. “Hearing a lot of talk throughout this process I was going to run a 4.6, and I think I went out there and ran well. I was really anxious all week to show the scouts what I could do.”

Gilbert and Dennard are in the running to be the first cornerback taken in May's draft, and both project as first-round picks.

Dennard won the Jim Thorpe Award as college football’s best defensive back last year. He's considered the more physical of the two and often was left in single coverage on receivers while playing the boundary cornerback in Michigan State's man-heavy scheme.

Gilbert is bit longer and quicker and can double as a return man. He also did 20 bench-press reps of 225 pounds, tied for third-most among cornerbacks and five more than Dennard, and he said Sunday he considers himself the best cornerback in the draft, even though he's still trying to perfect his backpedal after playing quarterback in high school.

“Cornerbacks with size, you have to be able to use great technique. A guy like me, I have long legs, short torso, so it's kind of hard for me to get my hips down and turn around and all that,” Gilbert said. “But the more you work at it, the better you get at it.”

NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah, a former scout for the Baltimore Ravens, said Gilbert will “be a tough person for (the Lions) to pass” on if he makes it to the 10th pick. Jeremiah also praised Dennard's ability to lock down receivers.

“Very physical player,” Jeremiah said during today's broadcast. “Now what he does is not going to be displayed out here on the workout, ’cause he's not going to run a super-fast 40, 4.51. He's not going to look all that fluid and loose in the change-of-direction stuff, but what he does, get up in the line of scrimmage, get his hands on people and play real physical.”

Michigan State safety Isaiah Lewis, who projects as a third-day pick, ran a 4.6-second 40, while top safeties Ha Ha Clinton-Dix of Alabama and Calvin Pryor of Louisville ran 4.58s.